Sliding-door hanger



A. F. LARSON.

SLIDING DOOR HANGER. APPL'xcATIoN r1LED1uu'25.x9|7.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

A lll/VENTURI' A. F. LARSON.

SLIDING DOOR HANGER.

APPucATloN f1LEDJuLv25,191-7.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A rmmvr.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

'RA/Er narran stares rarest' ori-lcs .ANDREVI F. LARSON, `Ol 'EGRTLANEL OREGON, ASSGNR TO THE GRAVITY DOOR HANGER COMANY, A COREORATEON OE OREGON.

Speccaton of "Letters atent.

SLDNG-BQOZR HANGER.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

Application filed July 25, 1917. Serial No. 182,620. t

To all to tem t may concern Be it lrnown that lf, ANDREW l?. LiinsoN, a citizen of the United States of America, residing` at portland, in the county of Multnomah, in the State of Oregon, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Sliding-Door Hangers, of which the following is specification, reference b fino' had to the accompanying` drawings.

ln conformity to established precedent, iy invention is referred by title to the class of slidingdoor hangers, and that despite the fact that my device is adapted to support a door from below as well as from above, and despite the further fact that the door is pendulous and may be described only, if at all, as sliding, in the sense that it has a transverse movement in its openino and closing operations.

i'he precedent referred to is found in the classii ation of the door hanger shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 331,258, issued November 2d, 1885, to Charles C. Runyan, and of that shown in United States Letters Patent No. 275,852, issued April l?, 1883, to Edwin Prescott. There is no more than a class resemblance between my device and those described in said patents, respectively, inasmuch as their several structures and principles of operation are restricted to certain objectionable limitations which it is one of the objects of my invention to eliminate. Those patents are, nevertheless, believed to afford a concrete showing' of the prior state of the art upon which my present invention is predicated. l

'lhc objects of my invention the ineens whereby they are attained will be better understood. it is believed. from the fellowing` specification in view of the prior state of the as above set forth, than from any `general preliminary description that can be offered. Suffice 'it to say in the present connection that 4those objects7 erally, embrace economy of manufacture through reduction of the weight of metal necessary to be employed in my hanger; the making of possible to apply my hanger to one half of a door either above or below its medial line7 as the case be. whereby the operation of the door is facilitated. in consequence of the disposition of its center of gravity so obtained; means for causing the door to move throughout its travel in a substantially true straight line; means for effecting' inclination of said straight line, whereby the door may be made retroactive solely by gravity; means for minimizing the pivotal points of suspension of the preponderant weight of a door at every point of itstravel, whereby its operation is much facilitated; and door supporting mechanism of the type described, conlined wholly within the supericial area of the door at every point of its travel.

My invention is applicable generally to any door of the hind described, but particularly to heavy doors, such, for example, as those used in partition walls to prevent spread of conagration, commonly called lire doors, and doors for railroad box-cars. ,ln the drawings my invention is shown as applied, for example, to a box-car.

What constitutes myinvention will be hereinafter specified in detail and succinctly set forth in the appended claims.

ln the accompanying drawings,

Figurel shows only one half of a car door divided horizontally and my hanger in two positions, indicated, respectively, by full and dotted lines, and so much of a. carbody as is necessary to be shown in order to illustrate the relationship between the same, the door, and the hanger. It may be here stated that the same supporting mechanism may be, without any change in the mechanism itself, applied to support a door from above or from below. All of the drawings may be, therefore, read accordingly by merely reversing; the sheet before the eye of the reader, it being; deemed, for

that reason, superfluous to multiply the drawings in order to show in separate figures the two modes of application of my device.

Fig. ll is an edge view of the subject matter of Fig. l, looking' from left to right.

lll is a view similar to Fig. l, but showing` application of the hanger to a door in such manner as to render the door selfclosing. p

Fig. lV is a view of the same correspondingr to Fig. ll.

Fig. V is a view similar to Fig. l showing' invention in a slightly modified form of embodiment.

Fia'. Vl is a view of the same corresponding to Fig. Il.

Referring to the numerals on the draw- Cil ings, 1 indicates a supporting-trame-piece of a box-car, which, extending across the doorway thereof, constitutes its lintel, the locations of the opposite sides of the doorway being,- indicated by the numerals 2 and 3. Then the drawiiro` is read upside-down, as it has been speeilied it may be, the lintel in such case, of course, becomes the threshold. rlhat being' understood it avoids confusion to designate the member 1 as above.

el indicates a door which may be of any suitable and preferred dimensions, material and construction. is, for emphasis, repeated that my invention is peculiarly applicable to a heavy door with the eldect ot rendering` it, despite its weight, easily inovable, with equal facility, at every point ci its travel.

The door is by aid of invention pendiilcnsly carried upon the supper i name piece 1, whether the said member be disposed above or below the door. rllhe support ot the door upon the member 1 is obtained mainly through the instruA entality ot two pairs of retleXed doorsupl ating members, namely, a pair ot linlr, u and and pair ot bars 7 and 8, the linlr 5 being` "'otally united as indicated, the point of manner united, as indi iated l0, 8, the linlrs 5 and 6 being;1 piro4 'by any suitable mechanism at separa' 11 and 12 to the door ll, and the b if manner united at separate points and i6 respectively, to the snpportinl meinbe is a distinctive feature olf my inven only that two separate points 11 and 12 a provided `for the linlrs and G, but also th1 the distance between the resiL of the pivots or pivot points 11 equal to that betwe those ot' pivot points ind'cat and l2 is unthe pix-'ots or ,d at and 1G.

The bars 7 and 8 are illustrated if.- Figs. l and III as angular or detlected len from a straight line. Such ai one or both bars, is, tor some preferred construction, :tor one that lll

reason it is desirable under certain conditions to restrict the field necessarit 'to the operation l of the device, but i. construction is not essential as will be apparent fn consideration ot Fig. V, ttor eiannile.

The pivot mech iisni v and 15h16, respectively, n immediately to the door ant 1, but, tor convenience in order to avoid ing their indiv cation, the po s dispos-ed in lined as upon a plate 1'?, and th are, in lilre manner and posed upon a plate 18. lilthis contrivance it is necessary, in practice, only to determine with approximate aocnracy two points of location for the plates, instead oit precisely fixing the several locations ot' the tour points 11, 12, 15 and 15. lVhen the plates 17 and 18 are used, screws or bolts 19 may be used to secure the plate 17 to the door, and screws or bolts 2O to secure the plate 18 to the supl porting-member 1. The plate 17 is, tor reasons which will be hereinafter explained, preferably provided with slots 22 disposed lengthwise ot the plate to receive the screws 19, and tor like reasons, the plate 18 is preterably provided with transverse slots 23 to receive the screws 20.

Explanation ot the previous statement that the door 4- is by my device made pendiilons from the supporting' traine piece 1, whether the same be disposed above (ir-below the door, is here ottered. lit the said trainepiece 1 be disposed above the door, as shown, for example, in Fig. l, the door hangs from the bars .7 and 8, being supported thereon from below by the links 5 and 6, respectively. By reversal of the mechanism, however, the member 1 is disposed below the door, and the weight of the door in such case hangs from the linlrs 5 and 6, that are then sup ported from below, respectively, by the bars 't' and 8.

By reason ot the preferred disposition ol the pivots 11 and 12 relatively to each other and likewise the relative disposition ot the pivots 15 and 1G, the door, suspended in either manner described, is caused to travel in a substantially true straight line as Otten as power is applied to move it trans,ierseli,T in one direction or the other, provided that guide-mechanism be employed to cause the pivots at the points of reflexion 9 and 10, respectively, to travel smoothly and truly in their respective orbits 2o and 26 that are respectively concentric to the pivotal points 11 and 12.

The form ot guide-mechanism, shown and described, and :tor which l express only a present preference, consists ot extensions 2T and 28 of' the bars 7 and 8, respectively. Those extensions are preferably made lonpiitudinally coaxial with the said bars, respectively, or, it the bars be bent, with those ends thereof ot which said extensions, res aectively, are elongations. They are also preterably provided, respectively, near their ends, with pivot bolts 29 anc 30, each havingl head oi"- which one, S1, is shown in Fig. ll, by the aid oit which they are respectively, loosely secured to the door 4e by a suitable loose-pivot connecting; mechanism consisting', prei'erably ci guide-ways 32 and 33, preterably provided, respectively, with longitudinally disposed slots 35 and made to aciso slots, through the employment of which that compactness of structure and mode of operation made available by my invention are in part attained. Beversibility of the slot and bolt connection whereby the slots would be carried on the bar extensions and the bolts fixed to the door may, of course, be inferred from the preferred arrangement just described.

Because of that reversibility of my device through which a door may be supported from above or below at pleasure, the members 7 and 8 have been hereinbefore referred to specifically as bars, but in that form of embodiment of my invention in which the.guide-mechanism, as described in the last paragraph, is employed, the bars 7 and 8, being` prolonged by their respective extensions 27 and 28, become, in efl'ect, levers, and as such serve not only the re quired purpose of guide-mechanism for controlling the travel of the pivot points 9 and 10 in their respective orbits, but also, in addition to their guiding function strictly, afford support and steadiness of motion to the door through their connection therewith secured as by means of the pivot bolts 29 and 30 working in their respective guide-ways 32 and 33.

riihe foregoing description applies equally, and 'for the most part without change of reference numerals, to all the figures of the drawii'igs. The special purpose of Fig. IH, as compared with Fig. I, is to illustrate means for converting the movement of the door trom the direction of a. horizontal straight line to that of an inclined straight line, whereby the door may be made to close (or to open it that were desirable) by its own weight. T he said result is effected by inclin'ing the plate 18 from the horizontal position which it occupies in Fig. 1 to the inclined position which it occupies in Fig. lll, and at tl e saine time shifting the plate 17 in a horizontal direction 'so as `operatively to accommodate to the changed position of the plate 18 the other elements of the mechanism.

The relative adjustments of the plates 17 and 18 may be accomplished by the resetting oi' the screws or bolts 19 and 2O if inserted through round holes in the plates after the manner indicated in Fig. 1H, but by making provision in the plates themselves for such adjustment, the adjustments may be effected by the loosening without resetting of the screws. For this purpose slots 22 and 23 in the plates 17 and 18, respectively, are provided. By aid of the slots 28 the plate 18 may le, upon loosening` oi the screws 20, inclined from the horizontal to any extent desired within the limits imposed by the lengths of the slots, and a proper correlative adjustment of the plate 17 may be effected by loosening the screws 19 and sliding the said plate upon its slots 22 longitudinally in a horizontal direction to a position operatively correspondent to the adjustment of the plate 18. When the adjustments are made the tightening again of the screws 19 and 20 serves to fix the plates 17 and 18 in place.

Fig. V serves to illustrate, among other things, the determination oi: the relationship of the various elements of the mechanism effected by relative disposition of the pivot points 11 and 12, and shows the eX- treme limit of separation available between those points. ln that ligure, for distinction, the plate corresponding to the plate 17 is indicated by the additional numeral 40, the remaining numerals remaining unchanged. It may be observed that when the pivot points 11 and 12 are separated to the eX- tent shown in Fig. V upon the plate 10, the effect is to bring the slots 85 and 36 in vertical alinement as distinguished from the angularly disposed positions which a shorter distance of separation between the points 11 and 12 imposes upon those slots. At the same time the inequality of the distance between the points 11 and 12 and that between the points 15 and 16, as previously postulated, is maintained.

ltis a tact that may be understood upon inspection of the several Figs. I, III and V, that the preponderant weight of the door is except at a singlerpoint of its travel sup'- ported exclusively by one or the other of the linls 5 and 6, or the bars 7 and 8, as the case may be. The preponderant weight of the door passes during its travel back and forth from one support to another, for eX ample, from one ot said links to the other, and in passing converts the companion support, or that one which is relieved of the main load, into a brace which has the effect only of holding the door in equilibrium. Consequently the weight of the door is mainly supported at all times upon a minimum number of pivotal connections as compared to the number which is called into requisition whenever the weight is equally distributed between both the supports or links 5 and 6, and which occurs in what may be denominated neutral field of the docrs travel. The effect is, mainly by the reduction of friction and the elimination of that resistance to motion due to the opposition octforces through the working ot one supporting member against the other, to minimize the force required to drive it in either direction along its entire travel, or from any point thereof as a starting point. By my invention, the neutral field, within the meaning of that term above deiined,

understood, in vieW of the foregoing specitication, from the following summary. rlhe plates 18 and 17 or a0, as the case may be, having been properly adjusted and secured in relative positions, and in reference to the guide-mechanism, the door is thereby made ready for service.

By the adjustment of the plate 18 to the horizontal position shown in Fig. l, for eX- ample, the heaviest door may be opened or closed, as required, by a light pull in the desired direction applied to a handle #11, which i'or operation of my device may be located at any point that ma'v be found convenient.

lf the plate 18 be inclined as shown in Fig. III, the necessary correlativo adjustments being made to correspond therewith, the door will rise to its highest point when opened in response to a pull upon the handle a1, and when the handle is released Will descend by gravity to a closed position or its lowest point of travel. is specilied, the adjustment last referred to may be effected so as to cause the door to descend trom either end of its travel to the other, and thereby either to open or to close automatically. An important feature of my mechanism is found in the tact that the :torce necessary to operate it is so small that it may be, in its self-actuating adjustment, driven to its highest position, ready, upon release, for descent, by the application of force, so very little greater than that which' is necessary to operate it in a horizont-al line oi' travel, as to be, in practice, scarcely appre ciable. ,a

lWhat l claim is:

1. A sliding door supportingdevice, como. prising tivo long levers pivotally connected at one end to a framing, tivo short levers pivotally connected at one end to the opposite sides of the vertical center ol the door, and at their opposite ends to intermediate portions of the iirst mentioned levers, and `efuidinel means for the tree ends of each ot the said first mentioned levers.

2. A sliding` door supporting device, comprising two lone,F levers pivotally connected at one end to a traminrj, tivo short levers pivotally connected at one end to the oppo site sides ot the vertical center of the door, and at their opposite ends to intermediate portions of the lirst mentioned levers, and guiding means on opposite sides of the vertil'al center of the door and adjacent the edges thereof tor the tree ends ot each of said first mentioned levers. i

3. The combination With a door and its supporting;- framing', ot tivo pairs ol' reflexed door supporting` members, the two members of each of said pairs heine` pivotally united to each other at their points oit reflexion, one of the said members of each of said pairs being' pivotally connected at their tree ends to the door on opposite sides ot the vertical center thereof, the remaining member of each of said pairs being pivotally connected at one end to the framing, and guiding means for the other ends of said last mentioned members.

The combination with a door and its supporting framing, ot two pairs of retlexed door supporting members, the tivo members ot each ot said pairs being pivotally united to each other at their points et reflexion, one of the said members of each ot said pairs being pivotally connected at their tree ends to the door1 on opposite sides ot the vertical center thereof, the remaining member et each el said pairs being1 pivotally connected at one end to the framing, and guiding means `for the other ends of said last mentioned members located on opposite sides ot the vertical center ot the door and adjacent the opposite edges thereoiz whereby the door is equally balanced on opposite sides of its vertical center.

5. A device for slidingly supporting doors nfithin their training, comprising tivo pairs ot retlexed door supporting members, the members oit each pair being,` of unequal lengths, means for pivotally connectin9,` the members ot each pair at their points et reitlenion, the short members et each pair having their tree ends pivotally connected to the door on opposite sides et the vertical center thereof, the long members of each pair each having one end pivotally secured to the door framing', and guiding means for the opposite ends ot said long; members.

6. The combination with a door and its supporting framing, oi? a pair of short lev pivot-ally secured at one end to the door on opposite sides ot the vertical center hereof, a pair ot long levers pivotally connected to the framing, the pivotal points of said short and long levers lying in diiiierent horizontal planes, means pivotally connectu ing the lfree ends of the short levers to the long,I levers intermediate the length thereof, and guiding means tor the ,tree ends ot the long levers.

7. The combination with a door anc.. its supporting Vlraming, of a pair oi1 short levers pivotally secured at one end to the door on opposite sides ot the vertical center thereoli, a pair of long levers pivotally connected to the framing, the pivotal points of said short and long levers lying,` in ditlerent hori- Zontal planes, means pivotally connecting the tree ends et the short levers to the long,1 levers intermediate the lengths thereof, and guiding means secured to the door adjacent the opposite sides thereof for the free ends of the long` levers.

8. rllhe combination With a door and its training, of a pair o'l' long supporting memers, said long' members being pivotally se cured to the framing on opposite sides of the vertical center of the door when in its mid position from open to closed position, a pair of short levers pivotally connected to the door on opposite sides of the vertical center thereof whereby the door is supported at all times from points intermediate the center and the edges to prevent sagging, and means pivotally connectingT said long and short members.

9. llhe combination with a door and its framing, of a pair of longl supporting members, said long members being pivotally se cured to the framing on opposite sides of the vertical center of the door when in its mid position from open to closed position7 a pair of short levers pivotally connected to the door on opposite sides of the vertical center thereof whereby the door is supported at all times from points intermediate the center and the edges to prevent sagging, means pivotally connecting said long and short members, and guiding means secured to the door adjacent the opposite edges thereof for distributing the weight of the door.

l0. A door supporting device comprising two pairs of relexed door supporting members of unequal lengths, means pivotally connecting the members of each pair at their points of reflexion, a plate connecting the free ends of the short levers, and a plate connecting the corresponding` ends of the long levers, said plates being provided with adjusting openings, the adjusting openings in one of the plates having` their longitudinal axes extending at substantially right angles to those of the other plate.

ll. A sliding door supporting device, fomprising two long levers adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to a door framing, two short levers adapted to be pivotally connected at one end to the opposite sides of the vertical center of a door, and pivotally connected at their opposite ends to intermediate portions of the iirst mentioned levers, and guidingmeans for the free ends of each of said irst mentioned levers.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand in the presence oi' two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREV F. LARSON.

Witnesses l?. A. SANDBERG, VALD. LIDnLL. 

